The field of wireless communication has seen dramatic growth the last few years. In today's world, most people use their wireless devices for various purposes, business and personal, on a constant and daily basis. Society is truly becoming a wireless one. Numerous wireless solutions have been introduced, and have made tremendous strides into everyday life.
For example, the use of Wireless Personal Area Networks (WPAN) has been gaining popularity in a great number of applications because of the flexibility and convenience in connectivity they provide. WPAN systems generally replace cumbersome cabling and/or wiring used to connect peripheral devices and/or mobile terminals by providing short distance wireless links that allow connectivity within very narrow spatial limits (typically, a 10-meter range). WPAN may be based on standardized technologies, for example Class 2 Bluetooth (BT) technology. While WPAN may be very beneficial for certain applications, other applications may require larger service areas and/or capabilities.
To satisfy such needs, other technologies have been developed to provide greater wireless service. Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN) systems may operate within a 100-meter range, for example. In contrast to the WPAN systems, WLAN provide connectivity to devices that are located within a slightly larger geographical area, such as the area covered by a building or a campus, for example. WLAN systems are generally based on specific standards, for example IEEE 802.11 standard specifications, and typically operate within a 100-meter range, and are generally utilized to supplement the communication capacity provided by traditional wired Local Area Networks (LANs) installed in the same geographic area as the WLAN system.
Other forms of wireless solutions have evolved from traditional land-based communication technologies. For instance, cellular phones have become just about an absolute necessity in today's world. While cellular technology was merely intended to add an element of mobility to the traditional telephony service, this technology has grown beyond that initial purpose. Many modern cellular technologies, including such technologies as GSM/GPRS/EDGE, UMTS, and CDMA2000, incorporate substantial data capabilities. Most of today's cellular services comprise such features as text messaging, audio/video streaming, and web browsing.
Some WLAN systems may be operated in conjunction with WPAN systems to provide users with an enhanced overall functionality. For example, Bluetooth technology may be utilized to connect a laptop computer or a handheld wireless terminal to a peripheral device, such as a keyboard, mouse, headphone, and/or printer, while the laptop computer or the handheld wireless terminal is also connected to a campus-wide WLAN network through an access point (AP) located within the building. Also, cellular technology may allow use of the mobile phone as a form of wireless modem that allows connecting a laptop, for example, to the internet via a cellular network.
Devices aimed at taking advantage of the capabilities of wireless networks may be described as wireless mobile communication (WMC) devices. Today's WMC devices may comprise such devices as cellular phones, PDA's, laptops, and/or other devices.
Most WMC devices nowadays offer more than simple communicative operations. These WMC devices, in addition to providing peer-to-peer communication functions, may allow their users expansive list of personal services and utilities. Some WMC devices may enable a broad scope of gaming, scheduling, task-organizational and/or other services. Additionally, more applications that traditionally were limited to non-wireless and/or non-mobile devices may be used in conjunction with WMC devices. For example, email applications such as Microsoft Outlook® are finding their way to more WMC devices. Other applications that have gained popularity in recent years comprise audio/video applications such as still and moving picture recording application and voice recording applications. These added capabilities and/or applications are slowly turning WMC devices into indispensable on-the-move personal assistant.
However, the promising potential of WMC devices' uses beyond simple communicative operations remains stagnant because of some limitations in the devices themselves, which may include such limitations as power, storage, and/or processing. Also, while significant work has been put into expanding WMC devices' potential utility, not much work has been put into convening these new utilities for their users. For example, while the WMC devices offer impressive array of recording, organizing, and tracking services, very little effort has been made to facilitate convenient use of data.
Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditional approaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, through comparison of such systems with some aspects of the present invention as set forth in the remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings.